In this month’s typography tutorial we take a look at paragraph alignment. While on the surface it may appear that this topic is relatively straightforward, each alignment has its own nuances that contribute to the overall appearance and readability of the design piece.
There are four main ways to align a paragraph including Flush Left, Flush Right, Justified and Centred. Whilst each of these alignments can be achieved in a page layout application with a click of a button or on the web using a straightforward styling rule, the benefits and pitfalls of each are not so simple. When deciding on which alignment to use many factors need to be considered to ensure optimal readability.
Justified alignment is a very popular choice as many people prefer the neat, straight edge appearance on both sides of the paragraph. This alignment gives the paragraph a formal appearance and the text tends to run shorter (the text takes up less room) than the other alignments—hence its popularity in magazines and newspapers.
However, to create the straight edges on each side of the paragraph requires the words to be unevenly spaced and this is where the main issue lies. When a line within a paragraph contains a number of large words, gaps of white space can appear. Furthermore, when these gaps appear over multiple lines we get what is described as “white rivers” running through the entire paragraph. Not only are these unsightly, they hinder readability.
Rivers can be minimised in a number of ways. Generally, the narrower the paragraph the more rivers will appear. Therefore, wider paragraphs will contain less rivers, but you don’twant togo too wide as your reader will lose their place within the paragraph and end up reading the same line twice—I bet this has happened to you a few times!
The most effective way to eliminate rivers is to use hyphenation. I know what you might be thinking, “I hate hyphenation!” Well, bad luck. The rule goes like this: If you use justified type, you must use hyphenation. If you don’t like hyphenation, don’t use justified type! When you do use justified type, you need tomake sure that you don’t have hyphens sitting on top of each other, which means multiple hyphens in a row—these are called ‘stacks’.
Flush Left Paragraph Alignment
With this alignment, the left side of the paragraph is straight (or flush) and the right side is called ragged. The great thing about this alignment is that the word spacing is even and rivers are eliminated. This greatly reduces the need for hyphenation but a small amount may be necessary in some circ*mstances. This alignment is great for narrow columns.
The trick with this alignment is to ensure the ragged edge looks pleasing and the paragraph does not appear to have large chunks or bites out of the paragraph. I recommend the rag should be between one-fifth and one-seventh the width of the paragraph. This is greatly controlled by the overall width of the paragraph, the typeface choice, the type size and the use of small amounts of hyphenation (for large words only).
Flush Right Paragraph Alignment
This is opposite to the flush left alignment as the ragged edge appears on the left side of the paragraph and the straight (flush) edge on the right. Again, word spacing is even which eliminates rivers, there is a limited need for hyphenation and the ragged edge should look pleasing. However, this alignment is demanding to read as the reader is continually searching for the beginning of each line as this varies throughout the paragraph due to the ragged edge. It should therefore only be used for short amounts of copy such as image captions.
Centred Paragraph Alignment
This alignment gives the type a look of dignity but the line length should be varied to create a pleasing and interesting silhouette—no two lines should be the same, or close to the same length. Centred text should only be used for short amounts of copy such as poems or invitations, as like flush right alignment, it is demanding to read due to the variations in line length. The lines should be broken in a way that makes sense in relation to the content and generous line spacing is also required.
Final Words
And that wraps up this month’s typography tutorial on paragraph alignment. I hope you enjoyed it and, more importantly, learnt something!
Other articles you may enjoy:
The Ultimate Guide to Typeface vs Font: When to Use Each Term.
Left justified gives you a straight line on the left, ragged on the right. Right justified gives you a straight line on the right, ragged on the left. Center justified is ragged on both sides, all lines being centered. Finally, fully justified is straight on both sides, with each line stretched to be exactly the same.
If the text is right-aligned, the invisible vertical line sits to the right-hand side of the paragraph; if the text is center-aligned, the line sits in the center of the paragraph. It's possible to have the text aligned to both left and right; this is known as justified text.
There are four main types of alignment commonly used in design: left alignment, right alignment, center alignment, and justified alignment. Left alignment aligns text or objects along the left margin, creating a clean and structured look. Right alignment does the opposite, aligning elements along the right margin.
When you justify text, space is added between words so that both edges of each line are aligned with both margins. The last line in the paragraph is aligned left.
justified—text is aligned along the left margin, with letter-spacing and word-spacing adjusted so that the text falls flush with both margins, also known as fully justified or full justification; centered—text is aligned to neither the left nor right margin; there is an even gap on each side of each line.
Flush left is a term used in typesetting and printing to describe text aligned along the left margin. In computer programming, it is often used in code formatting where lines of code start at the same point on the left.
Right align is a formatting option used in technology, computing, programming, and communications to position text, elements, or objects along the right margin or edge of a document, interface, or container.
A four-wheel alignment is when a technician adjusts the front suspension, steering, and rear suspension to ensure that your car is in alignment. They'll adjust the camber, toe, and caster on all four wheels of your vehicle during a four-wheel alignment.
4-Wheel Alignment: Is usually done on vehicles with front and rear independent suspension systems. The thrust line should be checked, then adjustments should be made to rear camber then toe.Next, the front wheels should be adjusted, by first setting caster, followed by camber and toe.
Alignment has to do with adjusting something so it's in the right place. If you take your car in for a wheel alignment, the mechanic will make sure the wheels are on straight. Alignment can also mean following directions or being in agreement. Your school has to act in alignment with state education rules.
In graphic design, “center aligned” refers to a text alignment where the text is positioned equidistant from both the left and right margins, with each line of text centered horizontally within its containing element.
When you "justify" text in a Word document, you give your text straight edges on both sides of the paragraph. Justifying extends each line of your text from the left margin to the right margin. Justifying text might make the last line of text in a paragraph considerably shorter than the other lines.
Left align refers to the alignment of text or other elements to the left margin of a document or container. It means that the content starts from the left side and extends towards the right side. This alignment is commonly used in various contexts, such as word processing, web design, and programming.
A justified text increases the space between words to fill the entire line so that it is aligned with both the left and right edges. You can also center-align your text with the shortcut Ctrl+J (Cmnd+J).
Flush right text is aligned along the right-hand side of the margin or gutter. It's a perfect choice for languages that read right-to-left, as it follows the natural reading order. Flush right text can also be suitable for short pieces of content such as a headline or meta information.
Align-left is better for readability, because it have consistent spaces between words. It was find out that readers read faster and comprehend more informations when text is evenly spaced. Justify text is pretty, it can fit more characters in the line, but it is specced randomly.
Generally, the left wing is characterized by an emphasis on "ideas such as freedom, equality, fraternity, rights, progress, reform and internationalism" while the right wing is characterized by an emphasis on "notions such as authority, hierarchy, order, duty, tradition, reaction and nationalism".
Left align refers to the alignment of text or other elements to the left margin of a document or container. It means that the content starts from the left side and extends towards the right side. This alignment is commonly used in various contexts, such as word processing, web design, and programming.
In design there are two alignment principles: Edge alignment and Center alignment. Edge alignment is either to the left, right, top or bottom. Center alignment as it states is aligned to a center line down the middle or across the horizontal.
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